I already went over all of the potential benefits in my last article. There’s no need to rehash those except to say that I think it was a good move for Phoenix, despite all the naysayers. They could NOT have won the title in the West before — not against Utah and San Antonio specifically, and probably not against the Lakers new lineup either. I don’t know if they win with this move, but they certainly were NOT going to win without this move, despite what all of the players were saying about almost winning last year.

Now, on to the Fantasy perspectives…

Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t a factor before. He still will not be. When he is playing, he might get better numbers than he was getting with Miami, but you can definitely count on two things: 1) He will be injured more this year, and 2) he will miss his free throws.

Fantasy-wise, Shawn Marion will actually probably get hurt slightly by this move.

I know what everybody is saying. Without being behind Nash and Stoudemire, he will get more touches. He will certainly have better numbers because he is on a bad team where he and Dwyane Wade are the only “go to” guys on the court for their team.

I can’t argue with that logic, but let’s delve a little deeper.

1) Nash will not be throwing him the ball. When Nash was out of the lineup in Phoenix, Shawn Marion’s numbers were down in spite of the fact that he got more touches because he was the first or second option in those instances. Not having Nash on the team is a minus, not a plus.

2) Pat Riley plays a slower, more methodical offense. Marion’s steals numbers may go way up (if they weren’t high already) and his rebounds might go up as well (with all of his teammates missing their shots), but there are fewer shots per game and good shots will be harder to come by. Everybody looks for different things out of Shawn Marion, but if I had to guess, here is how I would summarize his likely change in statistics.

3) Shawn Marion is a cutter and a defender. He can’t really make his own shots very well (except perhaps on the break), and he counts on his point guard to get him the ball in a good position to score rather than getting himself open for a good shot. It’s hard to say if he will be able to thrive in a half court offense or not. Then again, Pat Riley might go more “showtime” without plodding Shaq on the roster, especially if they dump a few more of the geezers on the team.

FG%: Down
FT%: Even (though he might take more free throws in Riley’s offense)
3PT: Down (less possessions, Riley doesn’t like so many 3s)
PT: Down
REB: Up slightly (less shots to rebound, but more misses on shots taken)
AST: Down (less possessions)
STL: Up
BS: Up
TO: Down (less possessions)